200 Years in Partnership

In 1791 a young articled clerk, son of a York merchant, was
admitted to the roll of solicitors.

His name was John Brook, pictured right, and he
clearly had valuable connections in the County for within a year of
qualifying The High Sheriff appointed him County Clerk and Seal
Keeper.

Brook's practice flourished so much
that he found it necessary to take in a partner and in 1812 George
Bulmer joined him at the office in Goodramgate, later moving into
larger premises in New Street.

The practice became known as Brook
& Bulmer and this is the first known partnership of the firm
which is now Ware & Kay. We are proud of the firm's history and
longevity and we celebrated the 200th anniversary of the firms'
origins throughout 2012.

On Bulmer's retirement in 1833
Brook continued on his own until his godson, Henry John Ware,
joined him in partnership in 1845. And so began the personal
Ware connection which continued without a break until the
retirement of Innes Ware in 1966.

The Kay line of Ware & Kay
traces back to Robert Newbald Kay who qualified as a solicitor in
1893. It remained a family firm over 4 generations of the Kay
family until the merger of Ware & Peters and Newbald Kay in
2000. Peter
Kay, our senior partner, is the great grandson of
Robert Newbald Kay.

Solicitors and their offices have
seen many changes over the years. In the earlier days the
waiting rooms had bare wood floors except for a few rugs, charred
by spitting coal, and clients sat on a wooden bench and were
provided with a few very old professional journals to read.

We hope that our clients now have
more comfortable surroundings to relax in although the reading
material may still not be to everybody's liking!

Providing high quality client care,
professional integrity and expertise is still as important to the
firm now as it was when the firm first opened for business in
1812.

How long has your family been a
client of the firm? We would like to know.